Improvement in composite piers



C. E. HILL.

COMPOSITE PIERS.

Patented June 6,1876.

UNITED STATES PATENT GFFIGE.

CHARLES E. HILL, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN COMPOSITE PIERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 178,438, datedIJune 6,1876 application filed October 5, 1875.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, CHARLES E. HILL, ofBrooklyn, Kings county, New York, have invented an Improved Structure,of which the following is a specification:

The object of" my invention is to build a cheap and substantialstructure for piers, wharves, light-houses, foundations, 85c. and thisobject I attain in the manner which 1 will now proceed to describe,reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure l isan elevation, partly in section, of a structure constructed inaccordance with my invention; Fig. 2, a sectional plan; Fig. 3, adetached view, and Fig. 4 a diagram illustrating a modification.

The structure illustrated in the drawing consists of a lower portion orbase, A, composed of nineteen hexagonal vertical columns, groupedtogether as shown, seven of these columns in the center of the groupbeing con tinued upward above the base. It should be understood,however, that this illustrates but one way of carryingout my invention,which may be applied to structures of various forms employed inengineering and architectural dation by vertical metallic bolts 1),firmly auchored to the foundation, passing through openings in theblocks, and provided at the upper end with nuts, keys, or other fastenings, as fully described in the Letters Patent granted to me on. the 25thof August, 1874, and numbered 154,393.

In place of, or in conjunction with, the pindowels described in saidpatent, for preserving the relative positions of the blocks, I insert,between adjacent blocksa a, ring-dowels c, fitting corresponding annularrecesses e e in the faces of the blocks. (See Fig. 4..) The rings areembedded in cement in the recesses, which cement, upon hardening, forms,with the rings, absolute barriers to the passage of water, through thejoints between the blocks, to the bolts 11, and the latter are therebyeffectually protected from the deteriorating action of moisture. Thedowels serve the further purpose of preventing theblocks from movinglaterally independently of each other, and

the bolts 1) are consequently relieved from transverse strains.

The structure, as before remarked, consists of a series of columns, eachhaving a central bolt, 1), anchored to the foundation, and each columnconsists of a series of blocks of hexagonal or other shape, so that thegrouping of all closely together forms a continuous structure, which maybe indefinitely increased in its dimensions or altered in form by themere increase in the number or change in the disposition of the columns.Y

In order to bind the various columns together, I employ one ormoremetallic spiders, D, consisting of bars united at points coincidingwith the dilferent bolts 1), each of which passes through an opening inthe spider at one of the said junctions, as shown in Fig. 2, groovesbeing cut in the blocks to a sut'ficient depth to permit the spider tobe inserted, it being preferable that the upper face of the spider beflush with that of one tier of blocks as shown in Fig. 1.

Where the different columns which compose the structure are not injuxtaposition, as in Fig. 3, where the four columns 0 of the structureare isolated, the arms or bars of the spider-extend from one to theother, so as to bind the whole firmly together.

In some instances the bars composing the spider, instead of beingunited, may be separate 'from each other, each bar having an opening ateach end for the passage of one of the bolts 1).

I claim as my invention 1. The combination of a series of columns, eachbound to the foundation by a bolt, 1), with a spider, D, through whichthe said bolts pass, and by which the columns are bound together,substantially as specified.

2. The combination of the recessed blocks a 0., bolts b, and ring-dowelsc,'inclosed in the recesses of the blocks, substantially as and for thepurpose set forth.

In testimony whereof Ihave signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

. CHARLES E. HILL.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM HILL, S. F. HILL.

